We can safely assume that Newark, N.J., mayor Cory Booker won't be offered a Cabinet job in the second Obama administration - if there is one, which is slightly less likely due to the comments ... of Corey Booker!

Booker ruffled his fellow Democrats' feathers recently on "Meet the Press" when he casually mentioned that campaign attacks on Mitt Romney's record at Bain Capital were "nauseating." This of course countered the official party line that Romney and the other meanies at his venture capital firm enjoyed shutting down factories and ruining people's lives.

That's nonsense, of course, and it's about time some Democrat pointed it out - even if Booker had to quickly "clarify" his remarks.

Venture capitalists don't buy a company so they can promptly close it. That would be stupid, because there's no money in that.

What they do is buy companies to see if they can be revived or reorganized to become profitable. That's where it gets dicey, because that can mean selling off or closing some parts of the operation, which of course can mean pink slips for some workers or locked factory doors.

That's a kick in the gut for any worker on the receiving end. But in the big picture, it's also the ironic strength of capitalism.

Companies thrive as long as they sell a product or service that people want. When that stops happening or the market changes, it's not as bad as it sounds - because some other company is emerging to exploit a new trend and hire more workers and make other stockholders wealthy. Venture capitalists sometimes help that transition - or make it happen.

In blunt terms, this is what occurred when companies that made typewriters were replaced by companies that made computers. That typewriter factory may have been around for decades, but in the end it had to go - and the nation is better for it.

Already there were signs that Obama was easing away from Bain-bashing because it wasn't resonating with enough voters. Yet Romney wasn't helping his case with his clueless-rich-guy image - or gaffes like saying he enjoys firing people. Ironically, Romney had his own Cory Booker moment last week when he admitted he deeply regrets that remark.

Hey, what's this? Two examples in one week of politicians letting the truth slip out between the spin and "talking points"? There may be hope for our republic yet.

--------------------------------

Thomas Taschinger, TTaschinger@BeaumontEnterprise.com, is the opinions editor of The Beaumont Enterprise. Follow him on Twitter at @PoliticalTom